Collaborative radio resources allocations to applications of mobile units

ABSTRACT

Collecting state information about the resources of radio access networks (RANs) and the Access Point Names (APNs) enables this information to be provided to mobile stations which employ this information to determine which radio access technology (RAT) to employ for connecting to the wireless access network, and to determine which APN to use. This decision is made relative to each application that the mobile station is executing, and these decisions are, optionally, revisited periodically, or as significant changes in the state information are recognized.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This relates to telecommunication systems and, more particularly, tomobile stations and to networks that interact with the mobile stations.

Cell phone technologies have been advancing over the years. Theseadvances were powered by (in addition to micro-miniaturization)innovations in coding and in protocols, by competition between companieswithin the US, and by the promulgation of different standards throughoutthe world. The successively adopted technologies typically provide morebandwidth, better geographical coverage, more effective protocols, morerobustness and, consequently, more capabilities. Correspondingly, thenetworks that serve the cell phones were also advanced but, often, theadvances were implemented so as to accommodate the older, legacy,technologies while use of the newer technologies was being spread.

The greater capabilities in the networks enabled the designs of phoneswith very sophisticated capabilities (often referred to as “smartphones”) and to various other wireless devices such as wireless enabledcars/trains, sensory/eHealth devices, etc. Thus, current day cell phonesand other mobile devices (collectively, mobile stations, or MSs) havecapabilities that, to different degrees, take advantage of what iscommonly referred to as 2G, 3G, and 4G and WiFi technologies. It isfully expected that other technologies will surely follow.

Value added services are often used at the boundary between a wirelessoperators network and the internet to enhance mobile user experienceimpacted by the limitations in wireless network. Value added servicegateways such as WAP, Compression, Content Adaptation have been used tooffset deficiencies in wireless access networks. Value added servicessuch as content filtering, virus detection, and parental control arecommon to wireline and wireless access networks. Entities that operatenetworks use APNs to distinguish value added service options whileleaving it to the mobile user to select such services.

Moreover, since the installed networks are capable of providing serviceto mobile stations that operate in different technologies, many mobilestations have been designed to operate in any one of a number ofencountered technology environments. These mobile stations switch fromone technology to another by active involvement of the MS user.

Better performance can be achieved if the mobile units were able toautomatically select the technology that is to be employed, based onnetwork conditions only. Still better performance can be achieved whenthose selections are application-centric and to be able to lock in toany necessary value added services at the boundary between the wirelessoperator network and the internet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An advance in the art is realized by modifying the wireless accessnetwork to collect state information about the radio access networks andthe Access Point Names (APN), either periodically or as conditionsdictate, and to provide this information to mobile stations that wish touse the wireless access network to reach a data network. Theinformation, which is provided to enhanced mobile units, is stored in adatabase module within the enhanced mobile units, and the enhancedmobile units also includes means to use the received network stateinformation to make routing selections. Specifically, a mobile stationthat is enhanced in accord with the principles disclosed herein uses thereceived network state information to determine which radio accesstechnology (RAT) to employ for connecting the mobile station to thewireless access network, and to determine which APN to use. Thisdecision is made relative to each application that the mobile station isexecuting, and these decisions are, optionally, revisited periodically,or as significant changes in the state information are recognized.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 presents an illustrative arrangement that includes a mobilestation (MS 10), and a network 20 (henceforth, wireless access network)that is interposed between wireless MS 10 and a data network;

FIG. 2 presents a flow chart of one embodiment of a method that isexecuted within the interposed network;

FIG. 3 presents a flow chart of one embodiment of a method forinstalling information in the mobile station to enable the mobilestation to make intelligent connection route selections;

FIG. 4 presents a flow chart of one embodiment of a method for employingthe installed information to make the route selections; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a matrix of information that is stored in element 18.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is an example of a wirelessaccess network that interconnects mobile stations a data network. TheGPRS is a random access packet data extension of the Global System forMobile communications (GSM), using encapsulation and tunneling totransfer high and low speed data and signaling in an efficient manner.The GSM and GPRS standards are defined in technical specificationspublished by the European Telecommunications Standards institute (ETSI).These include ETSI GSM 03.03, ETSI GSM 03.60 and ETSI GSM 09.60, whichare herein incorporated by reference.

Basically, GPRS radio channels are allocated in a TDMA frame, and thetimeslots are shared by the active users. Uplink and downlink channelsare allocated separately, and the radio interface resources may beshared dynamically between speech and data services, for example, basedon load and operator preference. A variety of channel coding schemes aredefined in the ETSI specification to provide a diversity of bit rates.Generally, applications based on standard data protocols are supported,and interworking is defined, with both IP networks and X.25.

Illustratively, FIG. 1 presents mobile station 20, and wireless accessnetwork 20, which is a GPRS network, enhanced in accord with theprinciples disclosed herein, that is interposed between MS 10 and anetwork 30 that comprises one or more sub-networks, such as the Internet31, and X.25 network 32. Both the wireless access network and the mobilestation employ information about the network to assist in establishingconnections to the data network for applications running on the mobilestations

Mobile station 10, illustratively, is one that is capable of operatingin what is commonly referred to as 2G, 3G, 4G, and WiFi technologies, bymeans of modules 13, 14, 15, and 16, respectively that are included in aradio access technology (RAT) module 45. Other RATS exist which MS 10 isillustratively not adapted to employ; for example, LTE (Long TermEvolution) which some refer to as 3.9G technology. MS 10 includes aprocessor 19, a user interface module 44 coupled to processor 19, an airinterface module 46, and a radio access technology module 45 that isinterposed between the air interface module and the processor. MS 10also includes a memory that stores the operating system with programmodules with which the processor interacts to make MS 10 operational(11), and value-enhancing application modules (APPL1, APPL2, . . .APPLn) that provide for various “smart” capabilities of MS 10, such asemail service, web surfing, video downloads etc. These value-enhancingapplications may be triggered, or “opened” (for execution) by a userthat interacts with MS 10 or by some other application that is runningon MS 10.

Operationally, modules 13, 14 and 15 enable MS 10 to be connected to adata network through GPRS network 20, whereas WiFi module 16 enables MS10 to be connected to the Internet through Access Point (AP) 33, whichmay be a server or a computer that connects to the Internet via anInternet Service Provider (ISP). Use of modules 13, 14, and 15 can bealmost concurrent, meaning that at any one instant or of those modulesis the one that connects to the wireless access network through airinterface 46, or essentially concurrent, meaning that a number of thesemodules can simultaneous apply signals to the air interface, limitedonly by the data that is applied to those modules by processor 19.

Wireless access network 20 comprises a plurality of Gateway GPRS SupportNodes (GGSNs), such as unit 21, that interface with network 30 via aninternal network 22. A GGSN includes one or more Access Point Names(APNs), each being a service point that performs a specific task. Thetask may be performed within the APN module, in a separate processorwithin network 20 such as module 43, or in a particular server withinsome sub-network of network 30. Also connected to network 22 are ServingGPRS Support Nodes (SGSNs) that are each connected a Radio AccessNetwork (RAN) and Serving Gateways (S-GWs) that are similarly connectedto RANs. Each RAN employs a particular communication technology and, toillustrate that, FIG. 1 shows RANS 24, 25, 26, and 27 that operate in2G, 3G, 4G, and FEMTO technologies, respectively. RANs the employ the 2Gand 3G technologies are connected to SGSNs, RANs that employ the 4Gtechnology are connected to S-GWs, and RANs that employ the FEMTOtechnology are connected to S-GWs through FEMTO Gateways (F-GWs). TheRANs include their respective Radio Network Controllers (RNCs) and basestations. Although in the context of the GPRS the RANs are networks,they are shown in FIG. 1 as individual nodes, and for the purposes ofthis disclosure can be viewed as such.

Network 20 also includes a Mobile Switching Center (MSC) 28, and a HomeLocation Register (HLR) 29. The MSC sets up and releases the end-to-endconnections, handles mobility and hand-over requirements during calls,and takes care of charging and real time pre-paid account monitoring.The HLR is a database that contains information about routing, to enablethe MSC to map MSs such MS 10 to one or more GGSNs, to update the SGSNsand to store IP addresses. The signaling and data paths that pertain tothe operation of the GPRS (in contrast to data of the MSs) is shown inFIG. 1 in dashed lines, and it should be noted that for sake of claritymany of the signaling paths are shown only in connection with one typeof element, but it should be understood that like elements have likesignaling paths (e.g. RANs 24, 25, 26, and 27 all have a signaling paththe MSC 28). It should be understood that much of what the GPRS networkdoes and how it operates is not disclosed herein because it is quiteconventional and does not form a part of this invention.

In accord with the principles disclosed herein, collaboration isundertaken between the applications that run on MS 10 and the radionetwork. This is accomplished by GPRS network including a resourcetracking module 41 that collects network state information and forwardsit, via a chosen set of APIs, to MS 10. MS 10 utilizes this informationin a manner that is beneficial to network 20 as well as to MS 10. Thebenefit to MS 10 is that is receives a higher quality of service, andthe benefit to network 20 is that the load imposed on it is morebalanced, and the network resources are more efficiently utilized which,of course, allows network 20 to provide service to numerous other mobilestations and thereby increase its revenue.

One of the places from where information is collected is a resourcetracker in each RAN (illustrated in RAN 24 by the RT element). The RTelement collects information about the state of the RNC and the “NodeB.” This information comprises signal to noise ratio (S/N), number ofactive users, overall traffic load, etc.

The other places from where information is collected are the AccessPoint Names that are associated with the various GGSN switches, whichinformation pertains, for example, to the availability of the APNs toservice requests. The information is communicated via messages inwhatever format is convenient, and since at least some of thisinformation is eventually communicated to MS 10, it is convenient toemploy the currently available AT command set, which mobile stations arealready designed to recognize. The AT command (expanded, perhaps) setis, of course, just an example of a chosen API, and other (perhaps moreadvanced) API, such as the Radio Interface Layer APIs can be chosen. Thefollowing table presents some examples of AT commands.

AT Command Effect AT!BAND Selects a set of frequency bands AT+CSQ SignalQuality AT!GSTATUS? Returns operational status AT!ERR Displaysdiagnostic info AT+CBST Select bearer service type AT!STATUS Phoneactivity status AT+Func Find phone functionality AT+CLAC List allavailable AT commands AT+CGEQMIN=? 3G quality of service profile (minacceptable)

One example of use of the AT commands in the context of this inventionis the AT+CSQ command, which relates to signal quality. It can becombined with additional information to present to MS 10 a score, orrelative cost, for access via the different RANs, and the application inMS 10 can then use this information to request a different route, or tomerely alter its operation to optimize its traffic rate. One suchalteration may be to slow its rate to a minimum until the signalconditions improve. Another such alteration is to withhold its elastictraffic till the available access is good enough.

To elaborate, the mobile station receives this information and employsit to reduce traffic congestion on the network, to optimize use oflimited resources within the RAN network, to enable smart application onMS 10 and thereby enhance user experience by adapting to RAN conditions,to increase revenue for the operator of, for example, RAN 26. The RANthrough which MS 10 is connected to the network can delay traffic ofapplications that yield low revenues relative to traffic that yieldshigh revenues.

FIG. 1 also includes an operator policies module 42 that causes theinformation that is available to MS 10 to be filtered pursuant to somechosen policy that is established. To give one example, a chosen PDPcontext can be hidden from MS 10 in network congestion areas so that anapplication is prevented from accessing the related services, oralternatively, the network can supply enhanced PDP context at an extracost for accessing a service and thereby MS 10 can be coaxed to choose alower cost route, if available (for example, choose the 2G RAN 24 ratherthan the busy 4G RAN 26 for uploading a large picture file from MS 10).Another example is when a user is on 3G or 4G access with videoconferencing application running and is traveling at speed greater than20 miles/hours avoid handoff to any Wi-Fi access point. Yet anotherexample is when a user launches an application on a mobile station thatrequires monitoring of medical sensors and real time communication withhis designated health care providers, it is desirable to take upmostcare to deliver the sensors' information in a timely manner. The ATcommands and the extended APIs are used to make sure link stateinformation are acceptable at all times. If and when link stateinformation fall below thresholds then the application and the networktake additional measures to ensure delivery of the sensor information.One last example is when the network wishes to reduce overallcongestion, user-generated video source streams are converted to H.265if and when user is streaming on LTE or 3G network with signal to noiseration below the threshold.

To implement these capabilities in the mobile station, MS 10 includes ametrics resource metrics unit 18 that stores Radio Access Technologies(RAT) information (i.e., information about the RANs), and informationabout the APNs that are associated with the GGSN switches. Module 18employs the stored information to affect the connections of the variousapplications of MS 10 through network 20, and exposes this informationto the applications for their own respective control of their operation.The influence over the connections of the various applications of MS 10through network 20 is exercised when the application is initiated and,advantageously, it is also exercised in response to changing conditionsin the GPRS network while the application is active. The same holds truefor influencing the operation of the various applications that are open(i.e., being executed).

FIG. 2 presents a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method in accordwith the principles disclosed herein that is executed in resourcetracking module 41 and, at least in part, in the various RANs. Step 51forms the cycle triggering mechanism. It may operate by passing controlto step 52 in response to any significant change in the state of theRANs or the APNs, or pass control to step 52 periodically. Step 52 pollsthe RT in each of the RANs and the APNs in each of the GGSNs, and passescontrol to step 53. Step 53 processes the obtained information pursuantto policies obtained from module 42 and stores the results. Theprocessing can, for example, develop cost measures specifically for thedifferent RANs (e.g., for RAN 26), or for the different RAN types (e.g.,all 2G RANs). From step 53, control passes to step 54 which sendswhatever information was collected by, or developed within, trackingmodule 41 to the RANs, and control then passes to step 55. Step 55communicates the information to the MSs that are coupled to network 20,such as MS 10. This communication can be a broadcast, or a response toan inquiry. When broadcasted, the various RANs of network 20 maybroadcast in unison, in a preselected order of succession, or randomly.The amount of this data is quite modest so whatever approach isselected, the communication protocol can easily be designed to enablethe mobile stations to receive the data. For example, step 53 cancommunicate its information to the RANs in a seriatim fashion, and theRANs immediately broadcast the information.

As an aside, WiFi access points such as AP 33 also broadcast informationabout their status, such as S/N over the channel between MS 10 and AP33, the amount of other traffic that the AP is carrying, etc.

In connection with the process that is executed in MS 10, it isrecognized that whether information about the state of network 20 ispassively received from network 20 or actively requested from network 20must correspond to the method by which network 20 operates.

FIG. 3 presents a flow diagram of the method executed in MS 10 where theMS passively receives the network 20 state information needed for routeselections because network 20 RANs broadcast the state information.Under control of processor 19, each of the RAT elements 14-16 withinmodule 45 is activated, in rapid succession, to determine whether abroadcast from some RAN is detected. If so, the active state of that RATelement is maintained until the state information is received. Thus, forexample, step 61 receives the messages from those RANs whose signals MS12 can receive successfully, and passes control to step 62. Step 62extracts the information from the messages about the RANs and about allreachable APNs and stores that information in resource metrics module18. At least one piece of information, of course, is the identity of theRAN whose signals MS 12 received and the RATs that they employ.Thereafter, step 63 updates a route selection matrix in module 18, andreturns control to step 61, to await the arrival of a next message. FIG.5 presents an example of a selection matrix that resides in module 18.

a number of underlying decisions need to be made in determining theembodiment that a given MS employs. First, will the information that isstored in metrics unit 17 be obtained through passive acceptance oftransmissions or though active polling of all accessible RANs. Second,will the MS manage the route selection only when the applicationinitially opens, or more frequently—such as periodically or in responseto a change in the state of the RANs and the APNs. Any of the choicespresented by the above two questions are within the scope of thisinvention.

It is noted that this approach enables changes that occur within network20 to be communicated quite quickly to MS 12. The opposite approach,where MS 12 polls for information, the RANs do not need to broadcast thestate information of the network's RANs and APNs. Rather, only thoseRANs that are within communication range of MS 12 are requested toprovide the state information whenever MS 12 desires it. In such anembodiment, step 61 would “poll for and receive messages” rather thanjust “receive messages” and a delay element would be includes in theloop to re-initiate the polling after a preselected delay.

FIG. 4 presents a flow diagram of the method executed in MS 10 thatutilizes the information that is available in modules 17 and 18. Step 64is the trigger step. It passes control to step 64 when there is asubstantial change in the selection matrix or when an applicationrequests a server connection. When the trigger is an application thatfirst requests connection to a server, step 65 determines, based on thetype of application that makes the request, which RAN and which APNwould result in the requested service being provided at lowest cost. Itshould be understood that the selection might be of a particulartechnology; e.g., “any 2G RAN,” or may be of a particular RAN, based onan index that is stored in database 17 and which represents a relativecost for using the particular RAN.

Control them passes to step 66 which undertakes to make the connectionusing the chosen RAN and APN. It should also be understood that theundertaking by step 66 may be a mere request placed on network 20, andthat the request might not be made. It is contemplated that step 66includes an attempt to send a next-best connection request in case thefirst-submitted connection request is not fulfilled.

When the trigger in step 64 is a change in the selection matrix, steps65 and 66 are executed for each of the applications that are running onMS 10. That is, a routing request message is sent on behalf of each ofthe open (i.e., operating or about to be operating) applications underconsideration. Optionally, the mode of operation of an applicationitself may be altered based on RATs that are available to theapplication. For example, an application's user interface might bechanged based on the bandwidth that is available to the application.

The above discloses an arrangement that provides enhanced capabilitiesand more efficient operation for both mobile stations and the wirelessaccess network. While some of the resultant advantages are explicitlymentioned or implied above, it should be understood that otheradvantages and benefits accrue from this invention. For example, basedon conditions for connection to different RANs, an application may splitits traffic between two or more RANs simply for load balancing, forhigher overall speed of communicating data, for insuring that sensitivedata gets delivered with higher probability of success (by sending ittwice, each time over a different RAN), or for security (based on thenotion that an interloper is not simultaneously listening on thechannels of two different RANs).

The invention claimed is:
 1. A mobile station, comprising: user interface circuitry, a memory that stores program modules for operating of the mobile station, program modules of value-enhancing applications, an air interface module; a processor that is coupled to said user interface and to said memory, and a radio access technology module interposed between said processor and said air interface, where the radio access technology module comprises a plurality of sub-modules, each constructed to interact with a radio access network pursuant to a different set of specifications; said memory further including a first module, interacting with said processor, that is instrumental in receiving and storing information in said memory from a wireless access network pertaining to network resources that may be employed by said mobile station, and a second module, interacting with said processor, that is instrumental in choosing, for each application of said value-enhancing applications that is requested by said user interface circuitry to be activated, based on said information that is stored by said first module, which sub-module of said sub-modules is used for communicating with said radio access network.
 2. The mobile station of claim 1 where said second module, which is instrumental in choosing which of said sub-modules is to be used for communicating with said radio access network, is also instrumental in choosing which of said modules is used for communicating with said radio access network for each of said value-enhancing applications that is being executed by said mobile station.
 3. The mobile station of claim 1 where at least one of said value-enhancing applications are adapted to interact with a user of said mobile station.
 4. The mobile station of claim 3 further comprising one or more of said sensors.
 5. The mobile station of claim 1 where at least one of said value-enhancing applications is adapted to interact with sensors.
 6. The mobile station of claim 5 where said sensors are sensors that pertain to well-being of an individual.
 7. The mobile station of claim 1 where at least one of said value-enhancing applications are adapted to interact with another application that is being executed on said mobile station.
 8. The mobile station of claim 7 where said information that pertains to said network's resources includes information that identifies one or more radio access nodes through which said mobile station can be connected to said radio access network, and at least one parameter pertaining to said radio access nodes.
 9. The mobile station of claim 7 where said information that pertains to said network's resources also includes identify of resources of said radio access network other than said radio access nodes.
 10. The mobile station of claim 1 where said information that pertains to said network's resources includes information that identifies one or more radio access technologies that may be employed by said mobile station.
 11. The mobile station of claim 10 where said at least one parameter is a cost measure.
 12. The mobile station of claim 1 where said radio access network is the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network and said resources of said radio access network that are other than said radio access nodes are Access Point Name modules of said GPRS network.
 13. The mobile station of claim 1 where said Access Point Name modules perform particular functions.
 14. The mobile station of claim 1 where said mobile station is substantially continually sensitive to signals received by all of the sub-modules via said air interface.
 15. The mobile station of claim 1 where said signals that are continually received by all of the sub-modules via said air interface are responsive to a polling signal from said mobile station.
 16. The mobile station claim 1 where at least one of said value-enhancing application programs operates in a manner that is sensitive to said information that is stored by said first module.
 17. The mobile station claim 1 where at least one of said value-enhancing application programs presents a user interface that depends on said information that is stored by said first module.
 18. The mobile station of claim 1 where said second module is instrumental in choosing a particular sub-module to be used for communicating with said radio access network by requesting a connection that can employ said particular sub-module which, if granted, causes said particular sub-module to be chosen.
 19. The mobile station of claim 18 where said information that is stored by said first module arrives periodically.
 20. The mobile station of claim 18 where said information that is stored by said first module arrives when there is a significant change in availabilities of resources of said radio access network.
 21. The mobile station of claim 18 where said information that is stored is stored by said first module is affected by rules that are stored in said radio access network.
 22. The network of claim 21 where said resource tracking module is responsive to a module that provides rules for said processing.
 23. The mobile station of claim 1 where said information that is stored by said first module arrives from a radio access network.
 24. A network adapted to service the mobile station of claim 1, including connecting the mobile station to a data network, comprising a plurality of radio access network nodes, each one of which is constructed to operate in one of a preselected set of radio access technologies, a resource tracking module for collecting resource availability data from each of said radio access nodes, for processing this data and for returning processed data to said radio access nodes, for communicating to mobile stations, including said mobile station of claim
 1. 